How To Beat Procrastination

So now we are back into the second semester and perhaps I'm not the only one who has some goals this time around. Maybe your goal could be to score a higher grade point average, complete homework in an orderly fashion, or avoid all-nighters. Well, I'm here to write to you all that these goals are definitely attainable! One of the biggest and most reliable ways to do this is to avoid procrastination. However, it is easier said than done right? There's always something going on, always someone calling you--there are countless ways to get distracted. But no fear! I have some tips to help you all. I'm proud to say that I've never had to pull an all-nighter at school and maybe my advice will help you get a good night's rest and a huge reduction of stress.

1. Take A Good Look at All Of Your Syllabi - Seriously. A syllabus is your best friend. Sometimes, students tend to only look at syllabi for the first day of class and then toss it in some dark cupboard, not knowing how helpful syllabi can be. Usually professors outline all of the dates for quizzes, exams, and whatnot so the best thing to do is to gather all of your syllabi and see if you have any large projects that coincide on the same week. If this happens, then you should highlight, underline in red, make post-it notes, and do whatever you have to in order to remind yourself of that particular week and what you can do to prepare for the multiple assignments.

2. Turn Off Distractions!- Facebook, your cell phone, the television, basically anything electronic can be your supreme enemy when trying to get work done. There is a lovely little app that you can download called SelfControl that allows you to make a list of sites that you can't go to once you set the allotted time for the software to work. Even if you shut down your computer, the timer will still run so it can be helpful. If you need help turning off other things, always remember--whatever you want to see or look at will be there waiting for you when you're done. Any facebook notification will still be there, any television show can probably be watched via online with some searching via Google, etc. These things can wait and you won't suffer for it. However your schoolwork cannot wait and you can and will suffer for it.

3. The "Art of No" Theory: Always remember that it is okay to say no to things or people at certain time periods. But of course having fun is important after you work hard, in my opinion. I used to always have this worry that if I turned down a dinner date with friends or a mixer for an organization that I would become a hermit and everyone would forget about me. But more times than often, reality does not align with our worries. If you have a hard time saying no to people, for example, compromise or ask for another time to meet! If they are your genuine friends, they will understand that your schoolwork is important and respect your hierarchy of priorities.

4. Every Bit Counts- Sometimes we have more free time than we believe. If you have 40 minutes to an hour before your next class, you can get started on one of your assigned readings or start a problem set. Even though at first you might not think that this will make much of a difference in the long run, you never know. Sometimes unexpected events pop up and you need to tend them. Better safe than sorry, right?

5.Imagine!- Just imagine yourself in the future as not clamoring around and struggling to finish assignments because you didn't wait until the last minute to start. Imagine yourself being able to actually have more free time to do your favorite hobbies. This may sound cheesy but motivation works, right?

Well, that's all for now, Princetonettes! Good luck with this semester!